1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to baseball gloves, including catcher""s gloves, first baseman""s gloves and fielder""s glovers, and, more particularly, to a baseball glove having a rough skin on the inner surface of its thumb and finger sections, the rough skin being formed by regularly, repeatedly and shallowly cutting the inner surface of the thumb and finger sections of the glove to form several rows of arc-shaped and dense cuts consisting of grooves and ridges, and acting as a braking means capable of braking the rotating action of a ball in addition to preventing an unexpected slipping of the ball out of the glove and allowing a user in a game to stably catch the ball without failure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, conventional baseball gloves are typically made of leather, and are classified into three types: catcher""s mitts or the gloves used by catchers, first baseman""s mitts or the gloves used by first basemen, and fielder""s gloves used by pitchers and fielders except for the catchers and first basemen. The catcher""s mitts are rounded gloves with one internal section for the four fingers and another for the thumb and having the side next to the palm of the hand protected by a thick padding. The first baseman""s mitts are somewhat similar gloves to those of the catcher""s mitts but with less padding and having sections for the thumb and one or two fingers. On the other hand, the fielder""s gloves have five separate sections for each of the thumb and four fingers.
FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are perspective views, showing a conventional catcher""s glove, a conventional first baseman""s glove, and a conventional fielder""s glove, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional catcher""s glove 1 is used by a catcher in a game for catching a ball delivered by a pitcher, and so it is designed to protect the catcher""s hand from impact of the pitched ball. The catcher""s glove 1 is thus typically provided with one internal section for the four fingers and another for the thumb, and has the side next to the palm of the hand protected by a thick padding, thereby having a rounded shape when fully opened.
The conventional first baseman""s glove 2 of FIG. 2 is used by a first baseman in a game for catching the feint ball delivered by a pitcher so as to out the runner and for catching the ball delivered by an infielder so as to out the batter in the case of a ground ball (the feint ball refers to a ball thrown by the pitcher to peg a runner on the base, or a ball thrown by the pitcher to prevent a runner from stealing the next base). Therefore, the first baseman""s glove 2 is most frequently used for catching the balls in a game. It is thus necessary to design the first baseman""s glove 2 such that the glove 2 is suitable for effectively catching the ball. Therefore, the first baseman""s glove 2 has a somewhat similar shape to that of the catcher""s glove 1 but with less padding and having sections for the thumb and one or two fingers. In addition, the size of the first baseman""s glove 2 is somewhat larger than the other fielder""s gloves.
On the other hand, the conventional fielder""s glove 3 of FIG. 3 has five separate sections for each of the thumb and four fingers. In the conventional fielder""s glove 3, the separate sections for the thumb and fingers are integrated into a single body by a web 4 and laces, thus allowing a fielder to catch the ball in a game.
In a baseball game, the infielders and outfielders often catch the flies, the liners and the grounders using their leather gloves. The term xe2x80x9cflyxe2x80x9d means a ball that is batted up into the air, and is also called xe2x80x9cfly ballxe2x80x9d. The term xe2x80x9clinerxe2x80x9d means a batted ball that travels low, fast, and straight, and is also called xe2x80x9cline drivexe2x80x9d. On the other hand, the term xe2x80x9cgrounderxe2x80x9d means a batted ball that rolls or bounces along the ground, and is also called xe2x80x9cground ballxe2x80x9d.
Of the above-mentioned three types of batted balls, it is most difficult for the fielders in a game to catch the grounders.
Most fielders in a game catch a grounder while running toward the batted grounder from their original positions. However, the fielders may often miss the grounder due to the unexpected slipping of the ball from the thumb and finger sections 5 and 6 with the web 4 of the glove.
Such a missing of the grounder from the glove due to the slipping is typically caused by both the rotating force of the ball and the repulsive power created by impact of the collision between the skin of the glove and the ball at the time the grounder comes into contact with the skin with impact. Such conventional baseball gloves are only designed to catch the ball by closing the thumb and finger sections together around the web and palm, but are not provided with any separate means for braking the rotating action of the ball in the glove or preventing the missing of the ball due to the slipping.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a baseball glove, which has a rough skin on the inner surface of its thumb and finger sections, thus effectively braking the rotating action of a ball in the glove in addition to preventing an unexpected slipping of the ball out of the glove, and allowing a user in a game to stably catch the ball without failure.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a baseball glove having a rough skin on the inner surface of its thumb and finger sections, the rough skin being formed by regularly, repeatedly and shallowly cutting the inner surface of the thumb and finger sections of the glove to form several rows of arc-shaped and dense cuts consisting of grooves and ridges and providing a rough surface.
In the baseball glove of this invention, the rough skin, formed on the inner surface of the thumb and finger sections of the glove and having the several rows of arc-shaped and dense cuts, acts as a stopper or a braking means capable of braking the rotating action of a ball in addition to reducing the repulsive power created by the force of the ball""s impact acting on the skin when catching the ball in a game, thereby preventing an unexpected slipping of the ball out of the glove and allowing a user in the game to stably catch the ball without failure.